david cameron to questions from allegations that journalist newt the world. there are the passing a cell phones to numerous individuals. he described the revelations as disgusting. on friday, he launched two separate increase. >> mr. rooney campbell. willm sure the whole house wish to join me in paying tribute in pain -- in paying tribute to the sacrifice of our soldiers. i pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of this particular soldier who was lost in such tragic circumstances. we pay tribute to him at all like him who serve our country,

summit means and in afghanistan and elsewhere. in addition to my duties in this house, i will have further meetings later today. >> can i agree with sentiments that the prime minister has said. members. >> can i agree with what the prime minister said and i have a son in afghanistan. it's a dreaded thing thinking you get that knock on theoor that he's lost in action. and our sympathies go with scott's father and mother and that particular team. here, here. >> mr. speaker, that yesterday we give 10 billion pounds to the bailout to banks in greece. we give 7 billion pounds to the bailout in ireland. we give 100 billion, this is the

british taxpayer, 100 million a year for their -- the quality of the banks in this country for insurance purposes and other purposes, why does the prime minister does not get on his back and go down to the friends of the city? instead -- >> we got the gist. the prime minister. >> first of all, mr. speaker, it is this government who has put a nk levee on the banks so they are paying more in every year than they paid in the bank bonus tax under the last government. in terms of greece, i kept us out of a european bailout of greece. in terms of ireland, i would say that economy is so close and integrated with ours it is right we give them support. that, i think, is the right approach but this government is being tough in making sure the banks pay their fair share.

>> severe droughts, conflict in food prices have combined viciously in the horn of africa. creating desperate hunger and threatening the lives of millions. with eight agencies short of funds, what is the government doing to help? >> well, it's being extremely careful to help in the supporting crisis where 10 million people are at a threat of starvation. i think it once again demonstrates that we are right to maintain and increase our spending in this difficult -- in this area, difficult as the arguments sometimes are but in spite of the difficulties we have elsewhere and in europe it's nothing like those people facing starvation and death unless we help them. >> ed miliband. >> here, here. >> mr. speaker, can i join in paying tribute of highlander battalion in scotland.

he served our country and died in the most horrific circumstances and i'm sure the thoughts of the whole house are with his family and friends. >> here, here. >> mr. speaker, the whole country has been appalled by the disclosures, the 7 victims the parents of holly wells and jessica chapman and, of course,

it does not involve police officers who were involved in the original investigation. that clearly did not get to the truth. but i do think that we have inquiries that are public and independent and have public confidence. there are two vital issues that we need to look into. the first is the original police inquiry and why that did not get to the bottom, and the second is about the behavior of individual people and individual media organizations, and has the right hon. john allman says, a book

into this country. it may be possible to start some of the work earlier. i'm willing to work to make sure we get this right. >> let me thank the prime minister that i am encouraged that the prime minister does not recognize that we need a full inquiry into what happened. it is right to say that this can only be fully completed after the police investigation has taken this course. however, as he said in his answer, that may take some years. it is possible for the prime minister to start the process now. he should immediately in -- immediately appoint a figure to inquiry.

the culture and practices of the industry, the nature of regulation, which is absolutely crucial, and the relationship between the police and the media. >> i do not think it is possible to start any investigation into the police until the investigation is complete. i do think responding positively to what he says, it may be possible to start another element. i do not want to rush this decision. i want to get it right. i want to discuss this with

other leaders. all too often, these inquiries can be set up too quickly without thinking through what needs to be done. >> just because it cannot do everything does not mean we cannot do everything -- anything. there is at a point of inquiry into the treatment of detainees by intelligence services with criminal cases still pending. but let me go on, mr. speaker, to ask him about this public inquiry. we have said that it should be referred to the competition coming men and not dealt with in the way the culture secretary has done. the prime minister must realize the public will react with disbelief is next week the decision is taken to go ahead

with this deal, and at a time when news international is the subject to major criminal investigations. we do not yet know who charges will be laid against. does the prime minister agree that it should now be referred to the competition commission to provide a breathing space that is required? >> the answer is point about gibson. this is a good and fair point. we established the gadson inquiry, but it has not made much progress until criminal proceedings have been brought to the end. you do not want to jeopardize a police operation, which it would do so if you start questioning three public inquiry process at the same time as questioning through this process. that is the reason we are doing this. we can set of other elements of the inquiry. on the issue, what we have done

is followed to the letter the correct legal processes. that is what the government house to do. my right hon. friend, the secretary of state, has a judicial role that he has to follow. the leader of the labor party said yesterday that the issue of competition and morality has been the -- plurality has been the issue. these processes must be followed properly. it is off, that has a duty to make the recommendations. >> the public will not accept the idea that with this scandal the government should in the coming days be making a decision

outside the normal processes to take control of one of the biggest media organizations in the country. i know this is difficult for him, but i strongly urge him to think again and send this decision to the proper authorities. this would provide breathing space for legitimacy and for the proper decisions to be made. >> i would say to him that the decision making has been approved through the proper processes and is right that the government act legally in every way, and that is what is done what is the issue about morality and ethics and a police investigation that needs to be carried out in a proper way. the other is an issue about morality -- a plurality.

>> this is not the time for technicalities. we have said consistently throughout this process that this should be referred to the competition commission. this is the right way forward. the prime minister, instead of in gauging -- engaging should do this. i hope he will go off and think again because it is in the interest of the media industry and the public that is properly referred to the competition commission in a way that all other things are dealt with. we also know that world may be a public inquiry, as well as the bid to the public commission, that these were not the actions of a broker individual, but a wider -- pirogue individual, but

wider abuses. no one seems prepared to take response so before what happened. no one is denying what has happened. and nobody is denying that it happened on the watch of the current chief executive of news international, who was editor of the newspaper of the time. will he join me that she should take responsibly of her position? >> to deal with this issue of technicalities, when you are dealing with the law, you have to look at a technicality. but there is something called due process that you have to follow. that is the duty of any government, and i'm sure he understands that. in terms of news international, everyone there should ask some searching questions. and everyone had news international is subject to what is currently one of the largest .npupolice investigations

i say we should but the police do the work. if there is anyone guilty of wrongdoing, they should be prosecuted. >> i am clear that she should take responsibility and stand down. there was a systematic set of abuses with our responsibility in our country. for the interests of our democracy and the public, these issues need to be sorted out. not shown you have the leadership necessary. he has not shown the leadership on news international. he has got to accept that he

made a catastrophic error of songment by green andy coli into the heart of his machine. >> the prime minister should not bhave to shout to be heard. and neither should the leader of the opposition. >> i take responsibility my government has done. what this government is doing is making sure that the public -- and i feel so appalled by what has happened. murder victims, terror victims have had their phones tapped. that is why there is a full police investigation with all the powers that they need. we have those inquiries to get to the bottom of what went wrong and lessons that need to

be learned. that is why we also need to inquire the ethics involved of the press of this country and make sure they improve the future. that is what needs to be done. that is what this government is doing. they improve the future. that is what needs to be done and that is what this government is doing and we don't have to take lectures from him about it. >> thank you, mr. speaker, the year nine pupils in my constituency have joined hundreds of other peoples to send my sister to school campaign. will the prime minister add support to this cause and shouldn't his campaign remind us that good education transforms children's lives and their life chances? >> no, i'm delighted to welcome the campaign that she mentioned and her personal support for it. the fact is that across our world there are 39 million girls out of school. and even if they're in schools, the gender gaps we still see are

appalling. what we're doing in the u.k. with our a budget is we are securing schooling and we'll be able to do it at 2.5% of the cost. this is a good investment for britain, for british taxpayers to make sure we reduce inequality in our world. >> can the prime minister explain whether he thinks that the cost of his nhs reforms set to rise even further we now know with the revelation that a new super quango is going to be created. it might be partly responsible putting at risk services at the popular school in my constituency? >> what we've actually seen since this government has taken office is more than 2,000 more doctors but 4,000 fewer managers. and we are cutting bureaucracy by a third. i know they don't like to hear it. but if we'd followed their plans and cut nhs spending, you'd see the number of doctors, the number of nurses, the number of

operations going down. and just this morning, we see the figures for the number of diagnostic tests in the u.k. going up. that's because of the investment going in under this government. >> thank you, mr. speaker. will the prime minister be aware of the news this morning that portugal's debt has been downgraded to junk status. does he not agreed that you can't put off difficult decisions and the only plan b is bankruptcy? >> my honorable friend is entirely right. plan b stands for bureaucracy. we can see what governments don't get control of their debt and deficit and we can see the party opposite does not agree with that. >> does the prime minist agree with him with the offensive dangerous driving does not cause harm to these victims. sometimes they are left paralyzed and brain damaged. will the prime minister support

me a my front bench in increasing the maximum sentence to seven years? >> i know the honorable gentleman speaks of great personal knowledge but not because of a constituency but because he worked as a barrister. death by driving and with the only tier sentence in the case someone was brought to me and someone was damaged in life and the maximum sentence for two years and we're looking at this issue and we're hoping to make ogress. >> mr. david morris. >> would the prime minister agree with me that thelleged bailout of the option of at the point billion inot that. if we aren't in the imf, we won't be a gbal player and also would you agree with me that the opposition needy reminding that in the 1970s the imf bailed out their government? >> i know the prime minister will want to deal with the first part of the second but the

second part because it was disorderly. >> i absolutely agree with what my honorable friend said yesterday that the labour party oppose our involvement in the imf. britain is a serious global economy. we should take responsibility for serious global issues including through the imf. >> david simpson. >> thank you, mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree that details of all the weapons and explosives the state mmission in northern ireland should be made publi as promised? and will he agree to have negotiations with the irish government to move forward to the americans to see that it happens? >> well, the point is the independent international commissioning -- commission on decommissioning did not provide us with an inventory. they were an independent body and this was a decision for them to take, difficult i kw as that is. they stated, and i quote, we would not quiche in advertently decommissioning ents by groups that are actively engaged today

nor to detour groups for handing over any arms when they subsequently come to light. this is difficult and we are all having to do in northern ireland and elsewhere in the world difficult things in order to bring conflict to an end and keep conflict to an end and that is what the independent commission report was doing. >> mr. adrian sanders. >> there's a real issue of delay of inquiry for the public have little confidence in the metropolitan police where investigations concerning news international are concerned. can i rend him of the question i asked on the it stands

today, it is one of the largest police investigations going on anywhere in our country. >> teresa pier. >> thank you, mr. speaker. anybody else -- victims of knife crime have increased. on the streets of london we have children traveling knives and other children afraid of their journey to and from school. last friday, a 16 constituent of mine was stabbed to death. two children have been arrested in connection with this. what will the prime minister do to ensure that the mayorf london gets a grip on this problem that was bot one of the mayor and one of the prime minister's election promises? >> well, the case she raises is an absolutely tragic one and there are too many victims of knife crime particularly amongst young people in our cities

particularly in london. what we are doing is creating a new offense with a mandatory prison sentence to send a very clear message to those who carry knives. the offense will apply to those would have knife who threaten and endanger others in a public place. they will send a clear message, if you threaten anyone you go to jail. >> will my right honorable friend agree with me that those who pay back early their student loans are doing the right thing and should be encouraged? if so, how is that consistent with the government's policy which is apparently one to discourage people from paying back early and indeed to penalize them for early replacement of student loans? >> i would urge my honorable friend -- honorable friend to look deeply at what we're proposing. we want a progressive system people who earn more and pay more and nobody pays anything until you earn 21,000 and you don't pay back in full until you earn 35,000.

people who pay back, say, 3,000 pounds a year as their earning money shouldn't be discouraged beuse that is in many ways the right thing to do. >> mr. dave b. perkins. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in opposion, the prime minister was clear that his book should be banned. now, last week he said i fell back on exactly the same explanations that he refused to accept when they were given to him by the previous prime minister. what's changed? >> well, wt we have done is we've banned -- we have banned the book and we have taken action. as my right honorable friend the lord chancellor will hastily testify, it is endlessly frustrating that we are subje to so many legal requirements. but i'm afraid we have to be a government under the law. >> mr. speaker? >> the house, order! the house will want to hear robert. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

given the olympicsnd the diamond jubilee next yea is the prime minister is aware the immigration special branch officers are concerned that the common area illegal immigrants and islamists into the country without their passports being checked. will he take urgent steps take control over this immediately. >> what i would say, passport-free travel between the u.k., the crown dependenciesnd the republic of ireland, that's been in place for many years and it does offer some real economic and social benefits. i do accept these routes can be opened to abuse and we're determined to resolve this. the u.k. border agency is working very closely with ireland and others to make sure it happens but we want to try to do this without disadvantaging people who have been able to take advantage of this up until now. >> the community secretary and the dwp committee hav both said both british employees should

employ british workers so will the prime minister stop the dwp offshoring existing job offsite to bangalore? >> i will look closely at the case that she makes, but every government -- >> order! i want to hear the prime minister's answer. so does the house. the prime minister. >> what we need to do is make sure our welfare reforms are encouraging those people who sit on welfare who could work actually go out to work. what we had under the party opposite, yes, economic growth but 5 million working-age people living on benefits. that's not good enough and we're

going to change it. >> mr. andrew bingham. >> thank you, mr. speaker. would the prime minister agree with me that birthing centers in royal areas provide a valuable and irreplaceable service to their local communities and every effort should be made to retain and i and hundreds of my constituents are sending to dar shire county as they consider. what we want to see is maternity choices where they give birth, whether that's a community center or a district general hospital where they have all the paraphernalia. it should be a choice made by them with a gp and others for what's right for their needs. >> this is margaret beckett. >> is the prime minister aware when yesterday bombardier had to announce the redundancy of skilled engineers and designers the public made public for the first time that they had offered to establish a new academy in this country for the design and manufacturer of cars for the next generation of high-speed trains for this country and across the world a global center of excellce, more jobs and jobs with even higher skills. he won't have had time to familiarize himself with the detail of that but will he undertake to look into it with care to give substance to the

commitment he made in my constituency to british manufacturing? >> i will look very carefully at what the right honorable lady has said about this issue. let me just say this because, obviously, i want to see more british jobs in manufacturing. indeed, as we are seeing across our country, but in case of the bomb -- in the case of mbardier train contract the procurement process was designed and initiated by the government of which she was a part. i have to say we are bound by the criteria that they set out and, therefore, we have to continue with the decision that's been made according to the criteria. now, separately we are setting out to ask the question, what more can we do within the current rules to make sure we boost economy and not have situations like this in the future. >> mr. bob blackman. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 12 days ago a young constituent was a victim of a vicious knife

attack and another 16-year-old was the victim of a knife attack. will the prime minister condemn this upsurge in gang violence and those that carry knives will be -- will face a custodial sentence if apprehended? >> as i've just said to the honorable lady opposite, it is important that we send a clear message about this. we are doing that with the new offense that carries a mandatory sentence. that is a signal to anyone who is contemplating carrying a five but i think we should be frank with ourselves in this house and in the country that purely looking at this from a criminal justice situation isn't the answer. we got to ask ourselves why so many young children are joining gangs. why aren't families and communities doingore to keep them close and prevent the carrying of knives and that is something that runs right across government and indeed across our society as well. >> mr. ben bradshaw. >> it is simply not the cases at him prime minister claimed earlier that the